It's 2 AM...

... and I'm deprived of my prized drug: sleep. I have an EEG tomorrow to check if I am having seizures when I shake. For this test, I need to stay awake all night.

What does one do all night? So far, I've watched about four episodes of "Smallville". I think I may finish the night with about six or seven more.

Ugh...

Anyway, I added my avatar to my page, copying Jo-Na's example. It's business casual day!

Nightmare

I had a nightmare last night that I was thrown back to high school. I was in my third year at Macalester when it came to light that I hadn't actually graduated from high school. I had to put college on hold, move back home, and waste a semester learning nothing. I even had to take band class again! Also, our laundry shoot plugged and my sister overflowed the toilet.

Such are my dreams.

Henry is a Grumpy Boy

The down side, or rather the further down side, of this whole left-side shaking thing is that I was taken of my anxiety medication and, due to blood work, my doctor reduced my synthroid medication. As a result, I'm surly and fat. Last night when trying to hook up XM to my computer so I could record Jake Johansen, I destroyed a cable converter because I was having trouble. This morning, I feel like drowning newborn kittens.

Oh well, I have a follow up appointment today for my lungs (just love these medical problems!) and I can get my synthroid medication up. Then I can be surly and not-so-fat.

On a lighter note, Melissa has some accent tutorials on her website. Love the northern one.

Keeping Up With Resolutions

So here's a post to keep up with my resolution to blog every day that I'm able. Sometimes following through is its own reward.

Please Don't Burn Me....

I found this on Melissa's blog:

Ten Top Trivia Tips about Henry!

1. It is bad luck to walk under Henry.
2. Henry can pollinate up to six times more efficiently than the honeybee.
3. Without Henry, we would have to pollinate apple trees by hand!
4. If you cut Henry in half and count the number of seeds inside, you will know how many children you are going to have.
5. Apples are covered with a thin layer of Henry.
6. There is actually no danger in swimming right after you eat Henry, though it may feel uncomfortable.
7. Henry can remain conscious for fifteen to twenty seconds after being decapitated!
8. According to the story, Pinocchio was made of Henry.
9. Henry can only be destroyed by intense heat, and is impermeable even to acid.
10. The pigment Indian Yellow was manufactured from the urine of cows fed only on Henry.

I am interested in - do tell me aboutherhimitthem

My Boss

So I'm trying to post every day, even if I just have a snippet to drop. (Note to self, don't like the Garden State soundtrack, like the Shaft soundtrack.) Anyway, it's funny when things you think about here and there make it into your dream world, such as characters from films or some person whom you met. I often have certain songs or artists appear in my dreams since I listen to music at night while I fall asleep.

I had something new pop into my slumber land last night. I've always wanted a different take on the "My Boss is a Jewish Carpenter" bumper sticker with my father as my replacement. Since he is my boss, our ancestry is from west of Oslo, and he is an engineer by trade, I want one that says "My Boss is a Norwegian Engineer".

Well, last night, I was driving my car with that and a Norwegian flag on a bumper sticker on my car. I was also walking out of Sears at East Towne and, directly from there, jumping ten feet a pop onto some old mountain occupied by an ancient tribe. They didn't like me.

Ice Fishing

I went ice fishing this weekend, which means I sat inside playing cards and drinking beer, waiting for the flags on the tip-ups to swing to the left. We managed to catch enough to feed eight people on Sunday morning, so it wasn't too bad. I acclimated to the weather quickly and even went cross country skiing on the lake. Unfortunately, there was a layer of slush under the snow and my skis became caked with ice a couple of times. I almost finished my cheery book and caught up on some sleep, so all in all it was a good weekend.

Here's a picture of me up North. Melvyn did just fine, being cold blooded and all.

Haywire

So yesterday, I wake up and my left leg is shaking. This in addition to my head and left arm twitches. This is a bit strange. I would usually just shrug it off and wait for my next doctor's appointment but thankfully I have a roommate who has been kicking me in the butt to go to the ER. So Sunday morning I walked out of my room and told my other roommate that I may need to go to the ER. That's when I noticed that I said, "ah-ah-ah-I mmmay need t-t-t-t-to g-g-g-go to the ha-ha-ha-hostpi-pi-pital." That pretty much sealed it.

I took a shower, packed a bag (with clean underwear!), and got a ride from Steve to Meriter. I tried calling my parents, couldn't get through, and called my sister. She said she'd be right there, which I didn't expect. Then my parents called me back and next thing I know, they were on their way. So after a half an hour, I had a whole cheering section in the waiting room including my other sister, which was a good feeling. Nothing much happened there other than a doctor telling me that my CT scan was clear and receiving from him a prescription for an MRI that should be scheduled for the next day.

I was discharged and we went to Doty’s where I consumed good food and better beer. It's been a while since my family, just the five of us, hung out together. I hung out at my parents that afternoon, playing this TV plug-in game of "Wheel of Fortune". My sisters were definitely into it, because after the spin, one would yell very loudly "I WANT A "P"! A "P"!" Both my roommates showed up, one still in scrubs from work. We all ate cheese and they drank wine, I had more beer. By then, my stuttering and shaking were gone.

Today I awoke with the shaking and stuttering plus numbness on the left side of my face. Shaun already planned to take me to the UW Hospital's ER. He even called in to find out the consulting neurologist on duty, (he works in the neurology ward). This time, I was hooked up to machines, got an IV to get blood work, and had an MRI scheduled right away. Then I waited. I'll tell you, waiting in hospitals is even more boring than waiting in a clothing store. Thankfully Shaun waited with me.

I was transferred to another room in ER to make way for more patients. The neurologist showed up after a half hour, poked, prodded, and told me that he thinks I'm organically (physically) ok. He thinks it's either medication complications or anxiety. I'm not sure what I'm anxious about, but I am hard wired a little funny. That comes from my maternal grandmother.

I had to ride in a wheel chair to Radiology, which drove my nuts since I like walking on my own two feet. The MRI was strange in that it sounded like the old Atari games, with digital gong noises, clicks, buzzes, and beeps. I felt like I was playing Combat again. After each set of buzzes and clicks, I heard of voice say "The next scan will take 1 minute" followed by more buzzes, clicks, and, sometimes, beeps.

After the MRI, I had to wait in another ER room with my parents for the next hour and a half. I looked at my father and thanked him for not giving me his even-keel genes. My mother got me a sub and piece of pie and I watched most of "The Incredibles" while waiting for the results. Finally, the ER doctor returned and told me that everything looked fine, much to the relief of my mother. That kind of leaves me at square one. Well, not exactly. It puts it back into the medication or anxiety camp. My sisters and I have low blood pressure, strong hearts, working innards, and the like but our brains were wired by Romanian electricians using Swahili instructions.

Despite the misfortune of my brain, I'm very fortunate to have the friends and family that I do. I definitely have not felt alone in the last two days. And the brain deal just may need a simple beta-blocker and everything will be normal. Else you may see and guy walking around with a weak left leg while stuttering out wise cracks. That's me.

RSVP

Now my mother and my sister Molly have RSVP'd for my CAT scan. I was always planning on going by myself, since you walk in, they do their thing, and you go back to work, but hell, let's make it a party. I'm sure my other sister would be there if she didn't have responsibilities at that time.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Going Insane! Got No Brain!

So my kidney and liver functions came back normal so I can get a CAT scan on Thursday. Everything has come back negative so far, which means that I have sufficient B-12, working innards, no strep throat, and god knows what else. At least I know what's healthy. My father asked if I wanted to be driven to the hospital on Thursday, actually the question sounded more of an insistence. It's good to have people looking out for me. I know most people couldn't do it, but I love working for my father. Yeah, it was tough at first, but we gutted through it.

I was out with my roommate last night (surprise), eating and drinking when one of us brought up the Trans-Siberian Railway. That perked my interest enough that I've looked into it, evening finding a good website with lots of information. Then I checked into the plane flights. Not bad getting there, but flying back from Beijing or Tokyo more than doubles the damn price. I could keep looking, though. Ah, a week, bad food, and liters of vodka!

I think I'll poke my nose back in my cheery book. I need a new fiction book to round it out, since I just finished one, which I highly recommend.

Anyway....

A Drink or Two

When I got home last night, neither Steve nor I wanted to sit around. We started thinking about where we wanted to be. Trocadero sounded perfect, but the hour car ride did not. Since Steve hadn't been there since Bush the Elder was president, we went to the Essen house, gorged, and drank. Jeremy and Shaun caught up with us later and we headed to Nachtspiel.

Now here's the annoying part. We ordered a round of mojitos and the bartender rolled his eyes in annoyance. After he made them, he proceded to ignore us for the next half an hour, even thought he bar is about fifteen feet long. When I paid for the drinks ($24), the change came to three fives and and a one. Now most bartenders know to break one five into singles so the tip will be better. Considering the service, I wasn't about to leave a 20%+ tip. I would have left closer to 15% had I had some singles in my wallet. So I left the single I did have. As we left, he sent the waitress out to return the single.

What a bastard. I generally have much sympathy for wait staff and bartenders (I was one for a little bit), but that was just annoying. Anyway, I tipped very well at the other places.

Dave posted the Sports Illustrated cover when he was born, so I'm doing the same. Unforturnately, I have a race car driver.